ADJUSTING TECHNOLOGY FOR AN AGEING POPULATION: CO-PRODUCING TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS WITH OLDER ADULTS.

Abstract Since the onset of Covid 19, there has been a shift towards moving essential services online. This has the potential to further exclude sub-sections of the population from accessing essential services. This is particularly the case for older people who lack basic digital skills or who are not confident using digital technology, amplifying the risk of exclusion, and increasing the risk of social exclusion, loneliness and social isolation among digitally excluded older people. Research suggests that barriers to engagement with digital technologies include cost, lack of support, and technology being perceived as complicated or not for ‘people like me (French, Quinn & Yates, 2019). As such, there is an urgent need to develop digital solutions with older people, co-designing technology that meets their needs. The presentation will draw on data and experiences of older people involved in a seed corn project funded by the Research Wales Innovation Fund (April 2023- July 2023). The project aimed to co-design an affordable digital solution with digitally excluded older people to support the development of digital skills and confidence. The presentation will focus on the skills deficit identified by older adults with limited digital skills and explore how this knowledge is being incorporated into a co-designed prototype launcher app. The presentation will highlight the benefits and challenges of co-producing solutions for an ageing population.


Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, United States
Falls impact 25% of older adults 65+ annually (Bergen et al., 2016) with 1 in 5 falls resulting in trauma (CDC, 2020).Standing yoga can reduce falls by 48% (Hamrick et al., 2017), but some older adults cannot participate in these poses/inversions due to pain, lack of balance, and endurance.Seated yoga can reduce pain, fear of falling, mobility, and balance ( Yao & Tseng, 2019).Ong et al. (2021) found that falls education improves intention to engage in prevention.Although CDC (2022) suggests multi-modal interventions , no known research compares a combination of falls prevention education and seated yoga intervention with an educationonly control group.This controlled study compared fifteen older adults living in HUD housing who received both an 8-week "Get Fit While You Sit" seated yoga (LVSY, 2021) and falls prevention education to those who only received falls prevention education.Physical testing (Timed Up and Go (TUG), chair stand test, 4-point balance test) and attitude/participation measures were measured in both groups.Wilcoxon signed rank and Kruskal-Wallis were used to compare pre-to-post and between groups.Results suggest that the multi-modal intervention (combined education and chair yoga) resulted in improvements in TUG and chair stand test but other measures (e.g.self-efficacy for falls) did not change over time.The education-alone group did not improve over time.Between groups, a sig.difference was found in TUG and Chair stand.More research is needed but older adults in LTC settings may benefit from combining seated yoga with prevention education.The interest in and scientific understanding of the multifaceted construct of gratitude has grown in recent years.However, research on the role gratitude plays in the lives of family members of persons with early-stage Alzheimer's disease is limited.The purpose of this study, therefore, was to uncover the ways gratitude is experienced and expressed in family members of persons with early-stage Alzheimer's.Interpretative phenomenological analysis, a qualitative methodology, was employed to analyze the narratives of 27 family members.Expressions of gratitude were universal in the study but varied in the dispositional gratitude factors of frequency, intensity, span, and density.Relational conceptions of gratitude were expressed across three subthemes: (1) intrapersonal (e.g., family member grateful for how their own personal strengths and resources had aided them and allowed for growth while caring for their loved one with earlystage Alzheimer's; family member grateful for the individual strengths their family member with early-stage Alzheimer's had retained); ( 2) interpersonal (e.g., family member expressed gratitude for people who had positively influenced them such as prior role models for giving care to a person with Alzheimer's and people who had shown the family compassion); and 3) transpersonal (e.g., gratitude for God or a divine entity or force that was deemed benevolent and helpful when it came to the experience of living with Alzheimer's).Findings indicate that professionals should attend to gratitude in family members of persons with Alzheimer's and leverage this multifaceted resource to improve health and well-being.

LATE BREAKING: COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH APPROACHES I
Abstract citation ID: igad104.3752

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF OLDER ADULTS AT POLITICAL RALLIES AS A SOURCE OF RESILIENCE: THE CASE OF THE ISRAELI PROTEST
Boaz Ben-David 1 , Ortal Shimon-Raz 1 , Yuval Palgi 2 , lia Ring 3 , and Tchelet Bresslet 1 , 1. Reichman University, Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2. University of Haifa,Haifa,Hefa,Israel,3. Ashkelon Academic College,Ashkelon,HaDarom,Israel The governing Israeli coalition suggested on Dec 2022 a reform plan that would fundamentally alter the system of checks and balances within Israeli society.According to law experts, the plan would effectively end liberal democracy in Israel.This turn of events sparked the largest protest movement in the 75year history of Israel.The current situation is unparalleled, and the mental health costs appear to be significant.However, the toll on older adults has not been directly examined yet.The breadth of the protest movement is remarkable.A July 2023 poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute estimated that almost a quarter of Israeli citizens had participated at a protest action at least once.It was primarily through participation at large rallies held weekly across the country -one of the main symbols of the protest movement.Interestingly, the survey reported a 37% participation rate among older adults, the highesy participation rate among all tested age groups.Since older Israelis are members of the founding generation of the state, their participation is not surprising.They feel threatened as their way of life and heritage are at risk.In the current study, we conducted a survey that examined mental health indices among older Israelis.Specifically, we wanted to test whether active participation at the protest could serve as a source for resilience in older age.Unfortunately, political turmoil is not unique to Israel.Thus, we hope that our findings could assist practitioners globally.

ADJUSTING TECHNOLOGY FOR AN AGEING POPULATION: CO-PRODUCING TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS WITH OLDER ADULTS.
Deborah Morgan 1 , Hannah R. Marston 2 , Carol Maddock 1 , Aelwyn Williams 1 , Gemma Wilson-Menzfeld 3 , Elizabeth Jones 1 , and Jessica Gates 3 , 1. Swansea University,Swansea,Wales,United Kingdom,2. Open University,Milton Keynes,England,United Kingdom,3. Northumbria University,Newcastle,England,United Kingdom Since the onset of Covid 19, there has been a shift towards moving essential services online.This has the potential to further exclude sub-sections of the population from accessing essential services.This is particularly the case for older people who lack basic digital skills or who are not confident using digital technology, amplifying the risk of exclusion, and increasing the risk of social exclusion, loneliness and social isolation among digitally excluded older people.Research suggests that barriers to engagement with digital technologies include cost, lack of support, and technology being perceived as complicated or not for 'people like me (French, Quinn & Yates, 2019).As such, there is an urgent need to develop digital solutions with older people, co-designing technology that meets their needs.The presentation will draw on data and experiences of older people involved in a seed corn project funded by the Research Wales Innovation Fund (April 2023-July 2023).The project aimed to co-design an affordable digital solution with digitally excluded older people to support the development of digital skills and confidence.The presentation will focus on the skills deficit identified by older adults with limited digital skills and explore how this knowledge is being incorporated into a co-designed prototype launcher app.The presentation will highlight the benefits and challenges of co-producing solutions for an ageing population.

ADVANCING POSITIVE SOCIAL CONNECTIONS FOR OLDER ADULTS IN SUBSIDIZED HOUSING: A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACH
Sheena Pubien 1 , Becky Slogeris 2 , Elizabeth Bazurto 2 , Kennedy McDaniel 3 , Vilde Ulset 2 , Carl Latkin 4 , Cynthia Boyd 5 , and Thomas Cudjoe 6 , 1. Nova Southeastern University,North Lauderdale,Florida,United States,2. Maryland Institute College of Art,Baltimore,Maryland,United States,3. Johns Hopkins University,Baltimore,Maryland,United States,4. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,Baltimore,Maryland,United States,5. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,Baltimore,Maryland,United States,6. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,Baltimore,Maryland,United States Social isolation is a complex problem that impacts many community-dwelling older adults and has detrimental impacts on mental and physical wellbeing of older adults.This research aims to utilize Human-Centered Design (HCD) to develop and implement tools and design ideas that advance positive social connections of older adults residing in subsidized housing.HCD is a collaborative process used to understand and define social problems, identify opportunities, generate ideas, and design interventions to support positive change.We sought to capture the perspectives and insights from older adults living in two federally subsidized housing communities in Baltimore, Maryland.During a fivemonth period, we held listening and brainstorming sessions with over 50 residents, service coordinators and members of management.Valuable insights and ideas were recorded during each of these facilitated engagements and synthesized.Through our engagements we identified six themes that influence the social connections of older adults living in subsidized housing: feelings of exclusion, lack of community connections, burdensome transitions to communal living, changes to building policies, and concerns about the physical environment.These themes led to the creation of interventions such as providing physical materials to residents, facilitating cultural inclusion and connections, implementing effective engagement strategies for community coordinators and promoting resident leadership.HCD can be employed to develop tools and innovative opportunities that specifically target and address social isolation in older adults living in subsidized housing.HCD can be utilized to drive changes to policies that impact older adults in subsidized housing leading to social transformations to improve health.